Summary

Our Score

User Score

On the top of the dock there's a large number of control buttons that, for the most part, are logically and intuitively arranged - even if they lack the button mashing friendliness of the Blackbox 24/7. These are also backlit in a subtle orange (handy in a dark room) and this lighting is activated by simply waving your hand over the top of the device. This is made possible by the integrated motion sensor and it's quite a neat feature, since it also allows you to snooze your alarm in the exactly the same manner and thus avoid the annoying fumbling for the snooze button in the morning.

There are also three levels of brightness for the backlighting and the display at the front, so you aren't blinded or distracted in the dark. As for the display itself, it's not as large as the one found on the Blackbox 24/7, but it's bright and easily legible in bright light.

It's these kinds of touches and the magnetic shielding that arguably justify what is a reasonably high price tag of £70 to £80 - around £30 more than the Gear4. However, the Pure-Fi Anytime is let down somewhat by its sound quality, which isn't anything like as good as the price tag might suggest.

Though the Anytime can reach reasonably high volumes without becoming a crackly and distorted mess, whatever the volume there's a distinct lack of clarity and therefore liveliness to its output. Instead you're left with a rather muddy, cluttered and disinteresting sound that makes more or less any style of music sound rather flat.

This isn't such a big deal when listening to radio, where the demands are lower, but with an iPod or iPhone plugged in the performance rarely delights. We should temper all these comments by adding that if you're not all that bothered about sound quality and are simply after convenience, the Pure-Fi Anytime is by no means awful, but for the money we simply expect a little more than "okay" performance.

Verdict

Unique features, such as magnetic shielding for your iPhone and a handy motion sensitive snooze function, means the Logitech Pure-Fi Anytime has plenty going for it in the features column. However, its sound production doesn't really meet the expectations created by its relatively high price.